School is back in session, for many it means more than class. It means engaging in extracurriculars such as sports.

Wilsonville High School offers many sports; football, soccer, tennis, swim, basketball, etc. Araxi Tejeda-Martinez, Marri McCallum , and Alexis Leon Guerrero all form a part of WHS women’s soccer team.  They are a few of the many student athletes who manage to balance the academic aspect of school and a sport.

When asked about why she plays soccer, Araxi, said, “It’s because I love it, it runs in my family. My dad played too and he taught me when I was little.” Marri plays the sport because she loves soccer and being a part of a team. Alexis says that she plays soccer because she enjoys the sport itself and loves the way it brings out the different personalities in her teammates.

Being a part of a team, leaning on each other, and knowing that you can count on one another is an essential part of the game. To Alexis, being a part of a team “…is like having a second family. Not everyone likes each other, not everyone hates each other, dislikes each other, but we are all still a family and support each other no matter what. Araxi says that “it’s something so great that it’s indescribable, it’s like a second family, when you fall they’re are there to pick you back up and ready to get into a fight with the person who pushed you down.” To Marri, “it means that you’re always a leader and you hold your teammates accountable and keep them close as friends.”

One of the characteristics of being a student athlete is to be able to balance academics and sports, the way that Marri maintains this balance by staying organize and doing her schoolwork first because that is the most important part. Alexis manages to do both is by making a schedule and sticking to it, she says that she procrastinates a lot so sticking to a schedule is her lifeline. On the other hand, Araxi says, “I honestly don’t. I go to bed like at one in the morning so that is not balancing it. But, when I get home from school and don’t have soccer games, I try to spent as much time as I can doing homework so that I don’t have a lot when I do it later… I also know not to take too many AP classes because I know that I would not be able deal with it.”   

Balancing sports and the demands of the teachers can get stressful. Alexis stays motivated by giving herself some time to relax, sometimes she also talks to her mom or sister who help her feel better. Araxi stays motivated by thinking of her parents and their sacrifice. She says that there are times when she is feeling down and feels like she can’t do it, it’s in these moments that she talks to her parents, who always find the right words to keep her motivated. When Marri is feeling stressed, she leans on her loved ones to help her get through it.